Chapter 25 #2
"That night," I said now, pulling myself back to the present, "you told me you were going to hurt me. And I said I didn't care. That hasn't changed, Imani."
"It should." She was crying now, frustrated tears that she tried to wipe away with her good hand. "You should care. You should protect yourself."
"From what? From someone who's smart, strong, and scared of getting hurt again? That's not something to protect myself from. That's something worth fighting for. Because you care about people? That definitely isn’t going to make me go anywhere."
"Nikolai!"
"No. Listen to me." I took both her hands now, careful of her injuries.
"I'm not your ex-husband. I'm not going to leave when things get hard.
I'm not intimidated by your success or your strength.
I think it's fucking hot that you run a multimillion-dollar consulting firm.
I love that you're smarter than me. And yeah, you're complicated and difficult and you push me away when you're scared. But guess what? So am I. So do I."
"You're not difficult."
"I'm a Moretti, Imani. I come with the kind of baggage that requires security clearances and burner phones." I squeezed her hands. "So if you're worried about being too much for me, don't. I can handle you. The question is whether you can handle me."
She stared at me, her dark eyes wide and shimmering with tears.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
"I know."
"What if this doesn't work? What if we try, it's terrible and I lose you completely?"
"What if we try and it's amazing?" I countered. "What if you're exactly what I've been looking for and I'm exactly what you need? What if we're both just scared enough to almost fuck this up but brave enough to try anyway?"
"That's a lot of what-ifs."
"Life's a lot of what-ifs." I wiped a tear from her cheek with my thumb. "But I'd rather try and fail than spend the rest of my life wondering what might have been."
She closed her eyes, more tears spilling down her cheeks.
"I don't know how to do this," she said. "How to let someone in. How to be vulnerable. How to need someone without losing myself."
"Then we'll figure it out together." I pressed my forehead to hers gently. "One day at a time. No pressure. No expectations. Just... us. Seeing where this goes."
"And when it gets hard?"
"We fight through it. Together." I pulled back to look at her. "I'm not going anywhere, Imani. Not when you're difficult. Not when you push me away. Not when you're scared. I'm here. For as long as you'll have me."
"That's a dangerous promise."
"Good thing I'm comfortable with danger."
She laughed. "You're ridiculous."
"About you? Yes." I kissed her forehead. "Now. Are you going to let me take care of you for the next few days, or are we going to keep arguing until the nurse kicks me out?"
She was quiet for a long moment. "I need to shower. And change. And I refuse to use that hospital bathroom with someone hovering outside the door."
"Fair. I'll wait outside. But you need to get cleaned up regardless."
"And I need my laptop. I have client calls scheduled."
"Which your assistant can handle for a few days while you recover."
"Nikolai, I don’t need you micromanaging me."
"Imani." I gave her a look. "The world will not end if you take three days off. Your business will survive. Your clients will understand. And you need to rest before your injuries get worse."
She glared at me. But there was no real heat in it.
"Fine," she said finally. "Three days. But after that, I'm going back to work."
"We'll see."
"There's no 'we'll see.' I'm going back."
I kissed her. Soft, slow, and thorough enough to make her forget what she was arguing about. When I pulled back, she was flushed and breathing hard.
"Not fair," she muttered.
"All's fair in love and stubborn consulting executives." I stood and headed for the door. "I'm going to get you real clothes and actual food. Don't argue with any more nurses while I'm gone."
"No promises."
I paused in the doorway, looking back at her. At this fierce, brilliant, complicated woman who scared the hell out of me and made me feel more alive than I ever had.
"Imani?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you're okay. When Dez called and said there'd been a shooting…" I stopped, my throat tight. "I'm really glad you're okay."
Her expression softened. "Me, too."
I left before I could do something stupid like confess how terrified I'd been. How I'd barely left the hospital since, rotating between her room and Angelina's. How I was pretty sure I was falling in love with her. But that conversation could wait. Cause that shit even had me baffled.
Right now, she needed rest and food and someone to make sure she didn't try to work herself to death while recovering. And I was exactly the stubborn bastard to make sure she did. My phone buzzed as I headed for the elevator. An incoming text from Dez caught my attention.
PAIN IN MY ASS
How's Imani?
Difficult. Stubborn. Perfect.
So exactly your type.
Shut up.
Make her rest. Doctor's orders.
Working on it.
I pocketed my phone and smiled. Yeah. I was definitely in trouble with this woman. But the best kind of trouble there was. And I was exactly where I wanted to be.
When I returned to her room, I knocked before I walked in, but didn’t hesitate. Inside, a man was sitting next to the bed with a concerned expression on his face. Imani was saying something to him before she looked up at me and froze.
“Nikolai…” she cleared her throat and tried to sit up.
I moved over to her, but the guy beat me to it. He fluffed her pillow and helped her to get comfortable. The entire time her eyes never left mine.
“You were saying…”
“Yes, Nikolai, this is my ex-husband Eugene. Eugene, this is Nikolai.” she introduced us.
“Hi. Are you a friend or something like that?” Eugene asked.
“Something like that.” I raised my eyebrow at Imani. “Has the nurse been back?”
“No,” she shifted again. “I declined the pain meds.”
“Why?” I asked as I went to her otherside.
“Because,” she swallowed, “I don’t like how they make me feel.”
“How about Tylenol?” I asked.
“We can try that.”
“You need something before moving around to take a shower.”
“I’m taking her home anyway, I’ll help her when we get there.” Eugene said.
“Eugene, don’t.” Imani said.
“Yeah, Eugene. Don’t.” I looked at him. “I’m not sure where you think home is, but she’s not going anywhere with you. In fact, why are you even here?”
“Nikolai…” Imani put her hand up just as Eugene opened his mouth to speak.
“I’ve got this.” She turned toward Eugene.
“I’m here for the next three days. I’ll be fine.
I appreciate you coming, but you didn’t need to.
I’ve got it covered. Thank you, but if you could leave, I’d appreciate it. I need to shower.”
“I’m not leaving you here with this muthafucka or in this shitty hospital that lets people get kidnapped. You’re going home.”
I tilted my head, feeling that vein on the side of my neck raise.
“Leave now or be escorted out. End of story.”
The door opened and one of the guards from the hall stepped inside. “Is there a problem, sir?”
Eugene spoke up. “As a matter of fact–”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” he turned toward me.
“No, Eugene was just seeing himself out.” I walked to the end of the bed and waited for him to stand.
“Mani, baby, are you for real?" He asked.
“I’ve already asked you to leave.” She said.
He sucked his teeth and stood. “Whatever.”
He left the room and I paged the nurse.
“Nikolai, I can explain.” Imani sighed.
“No need.” and I kept my mouth shut until the nurse brought her medicine. I started the shower for her, let the nurse help her inside, put her clothes on the bed, and then I went to sit inside the nearby lobby to cool my temper.
I wanted to clock that fucker upside his head and the only reason I hadn’t was because of Imani. I was fine with her baggage, but I wasn’t okay with her playing in my face. There was something going on there that I couldn’t put my finger on. A reason why Imani seemed to play nice with him.
The question was why?
Was she going to tell me?
Or was it going to be another thing that she kept hidden behind those fucking walls of hers?
I wasn’t ready to face her, so I stayed put. I had real food bought for all the girls and delivered to their rooms. The guard that had come into Imani’s room, came over to me, disturbing my show that I was watching on my phone.
“Sir.” Louis said to get my attention.
“Yeah?”
“She wants to know if you’re coming back to her room.”
“Does she need something? Is she okay?”
“Yeah, I don’t think the doctor has been back. She’s gotten changed and is settled in bed.”
“Then let her know that I’m in the middle of something and when I’m done, I’ll be back there.”
He looked at my phone and opened his mouth, thought better of whatever he was about to say and nodded before walking away.
Yeah, I know it was a dick move. I wasn’t ready. When I was, I’d go back. Until then, I was going to sit right here.